Duggar Plane Lands Near Josh's Rehab; Source Says Family is 'Left in the Dark'

by Meredith B. Kile
6:29 PM PST, November 12, 2015

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Duggar Plane Lands Near Josh's Rehab; Source Says Family is 'Left in the Dark'

Josh Duggar may be out of rehab.

A plane carrying Jim Bob Duggar, one of his sons and two unidentified passengers were spotted at an airport in Rockford, Illinois on Thursday, near where Josh Duggar was in treatment at a faith-based rehab center, ET has learned. Rickie Traeger of RockfordScanner.com told ET that the plane is the same one that was spotted at the airport when Josh checked into the center in August.

The plane was on the ground for several hours, then took off again, bound for Springdale, Arkansas, near the Duggar family home, Traeger said. It’s possible that Josh is headed home for Thanksgiving festivities, though a family source told ET that the Duggars, who found their fame on the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, have recently been shutting each other out.

“Nobody communicates and it’s weird and tough,” the source said. “I think they just don’t really trust a lot of people right now, so they want to keep things on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.”

The source went on to add that they are “tired of being hushed and tired of being left in the dark” within their own family, adding, “The level of expectation in this family is too high, it is narrow-minded.”

Josh reportedly checked into the faith-based rehab center in August, after his family was rocked by two major scandals. In May, the 27-year-old father of four admitted to molesting five minor girls, including two of his sisters, when he was a teenager. Then in August, Josh admitted to a pornography addiction, which has been removed in an edited statement, and being “unfaithful” to his wife Anna after being implicated in the Ashley Madison cheating site hack.

"Josh checked himself into a long-term treatment center," the Duggars announced in a statement on their website at the time. "For him it will be a long journey toward wholeness and recovery. We pray that in this he comes to complete repentance and sincere change. In the meantime, we will be offering our love, care and devoted support to Anna and our grandchildren as she also receives counsel and help for her own heart and future. During this time we continue to look to God—He is our rock and comfort. We ask for your continued prayers for our entire family."

The Duggar family source, however, is less convinced about Josh’s sincerity.

“It would be different if Josh was actually sorry,” continued the source, who hopes that the former D.C. lobbyist is still in rehab. “He could have said ‘I’ve got problems,’ but instead, he hid it. When you live in a fishbowl, people are going to find out.”

As for Josh's wife, Anna Duggar, the source said it’s hard to tell how she is coping with the recent turmoil as well as parenting the couple’s four kids: 6-year-old Mackynzie, 4-year-old Michael, 2-year-old Marcus and 3-month-old Meredith.

“It’s tough to say how Anna is,” the source added. “I know how she says she is, but don’t know how she is deep down. She doesn’t talk about that.”